Summary
That’s all for today, thanks for following our live coverage.
It’s approaching 9pm in Kyiv. Here’s a summary of the day:
Russia launched a major offensive in eastern Ukraine and is trying to break through defences near the town of Kreminna, the governor for the Luhansk region said on Thursday.
Zelenskiy said Ukraine has intercepted plans by Russian secret services to destroy Moldova. Speaking to European Union leaders in Brussels, Zelenskiy said he recently told the Moldovan president, Maia Sandu, about the alleged scheme.
Zelenskiy said he had heard from several European Union leaders at a summit that they were ready to provide Kyiv with aircraft. He gave no further details about the pledges, and there was no immediate confirmation from any European countries.
Europe announced new sanctions against Russia which will include new export bans worth more than €10bn ($10.7bn), targeting Vladimir Putin’s propagandists, the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen said.
The UK and US imposed sanctions on seven Russian nationals over their links to the development and deployment of ransomware, as part of a government crackdown on cyber criminals.
Downing Street is looking at a “whole suite of options” to assist Ukraine when asked again about sending warplanes. When asked about the Ukrainian president suggesting some European leaders were ready to provide fighter jets to Kyiv, a spokesman for the Prime Minister said Defence Secretary Ben Wallace was seeing “whether we can provide fighter jets in the future”.
The European Union must continue to provide maximum support to Ukraine, the European Council president, Charles Michel, told reporters on Thursday. “We understand that the coming weeks and months will be of decisive importance”, he said.
Russian nuclear energy firm Rosatom says it is ready to continue work on creating a safety zone around Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant after officials from the company met the UN nuclear watchdog chief.
A quarter of Ukrainians are at risk of developing a severe mental health condition as the country grapples with the year-long Russian invasion, a special adviser to the World Health Organization (WHO) said.
Ukraine’s athletes have accused the International Olympic Committee of rewarding Vladimir Putin’s aggression and being “on the wrong side of history” in an escalating war of words over whether Russians should compete at the Paris 2024 Games.
Russia was stripped of hosting the 2025 swimming world championships and Singapore was awarded the event by the governing body of the sport. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has asked the governing bodies of sports not to stage events in Russia following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
The UK government said it will not send fighter jets to Ukraine if there is risk to British safety. When asked about some western allies’ concerns that supplying jets could risk dragging Nato into the conflict, the prime minister’s spokesperson said: “Firstly we haven’t made a decision in terms of UK provision of jets, we are training currently.”
Speaking at the European Council, Zelenskiy thanked EU leaders for their support in countering Russia’s invasion but urged them to supply even more weaponry, including fighter jets. “We need to strengthen the dynamics of our cooperation more powerfully than the aggressor can mobilise its potential”, he said.
Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, described Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s invitation to Paris, where he met the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, as “inappropriate”.
Zelenskiy addressed the European parliament on Thursday morning, proclaiming Ukraine “will join the European Union” and thanking the bloc’s members for their support during Russia’s invasion.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, said Paris would “continue the efforts” to deliver arms to Kyiv, adding that France was determined to help Ukraine towards “victory, peace and Europe”. “Russia cannot and must not win,” he said, adding that “the future of Europe” was at stake in Ukraine. The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said it was clear that Moscow would not win, and assured Ukraine its future was in the EU, saying Ukraine was part of the “European family”. “Putin will not achieve his goals – not on the battlefield and not through a dictated peace.”
Zelenskiy also made an emotional appeal to the UK to supply Ukraine with fighter jets on a surprise visit to the UK on Wednesday. “I appeal to you and the world with simple and yet most important words: combat aircrafts – for Ukraine! Wings – for freedom!” he said. Rishi Sunak, previously opposed to handing over UK jets, has ordered a defence ministry review into whether Zelenskiy’s request can be met, saying “nothing was off the table”.
Pledges of support by Sunak, the UK prime minister, included training Ukrainian pilots on advanced Nato fighter jets “to ensure Ukraine can defend its skies well into the future”. Sunak added: “The first step in being able to provide advanced aircraft is to have soldiers or aviators that are capable of using them. That is a process. It takes some time, we’ve started that process today.”
The Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said there was no sign of Russia preparing for peace. “On the contrary, Moscow is preparing for new military offensives,” he said during a joint press conference with the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken.
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Michel Hazanavicius, the Oscar-winning French film director, became the ambassador of United24, a fundraising platform, initiated by the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
“He is the first United24 voice in France,” said Zelenskiy.
Hazanavicius will help raise funds for the reconstruction of an apartment building in Irpin that was destroyed by the Russians. It will help families from 130 apartments return to their homes.
“I will do everything in my power for Ukraine and its victory,” Hazanavicius said.
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The Russian president bid a sarcastic farewell to businesses that have left the country over the invasion of Ukraine. Putin claimed their departure would benefit Russian companies.
Energy producers, food and clothing chains have left Russia in the last year because of unprecedented sanctions imposed by countries after Russia deployed tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine.
While the government and central bank have acknowledged “difficulties”, Moscow says its economy is resilient.
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Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni criticised France and Germany on Thursday after she was not invited to a dinner in Paris with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, adding to friction between the European Union allies, Reuters reports.
French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Olaf Scholz met Zelenskiy on Wednesday evening ahead of an EU summit on Thursday.
But unlike last year, when the then Italian PM Mario Draghi worked hand-in-hand with Macron and Scholz on Ukraine, Meloni was left out in the cold.
Earlier today Meloni described Zelenskiy’s invitation to Paris as “inappropriate”.
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A quarter of Ukrainians are at risk of developing a severe mental health condition as the country grapples with the year-long Russian invasion, a special adviser to the World Health Organization (WHO) has said, according to Reuters.
Michel Kazatchkine, special adviser to the WHO Regional Office for Europe, told reporters:
WHO estimates that at this time, one out of four people in Ukraine is at risk of severe mental health conditions.
In a recent visit to the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, Kazatchkine said he had seen dozens of military personnel hospitalised with “acute and tragic anxiety, depression and psychiatric conditions”.
“Mental health is becoming a predominant public health issue in Ukraine,” he added.
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Downing Street is looking at a “whole suite of options” to assist Ukraine in its battle against Russia when asked again about sending warplanes.
When asked about Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky suggesting some European leaders were ready to provide fighter jets to Kyiv, a spokesperson for the prime minister said the defence secretary, Ben Wallace, was seeing “whether we can provide fighter jets in the future”, PA Media reports.
The No 10 official said:
You’ve seen what the defence secretary has said this morning, that fast jets are not the only capability that can be used, and obviously we will look at the whole suite of options to ensure we can continue to support them in the best way possible.
When asked about Wallace saying Ukrainian pilot training would “probably” not be complete until “post-conflict”, the spokesperson repeated No 10’s stance that Britain would explore “whether there is a way to adapt our training to speed up the process”.
“But it remains the case that fighter jets are an incredibly complex piece of equipment,” the official added.
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Ukrainian rescue experts have brought their skills to the devastation caused from a massive earthquake in Turkey to search flattened buildings for survivors, erect tents and offer first aid, Reuters reports.
Oleksandr Khorunzhyi, a spokesman for the State Emergency Service of Ukraine said:
There is a war in our country, but we understand that we have to help, and this aid is mutual. There is no other way to do it.
Kyiv has sent 88 people to Turkey to help with a disaster that has killed 19,000 people across southern Turkey and north-west Syria. The team includes specialists in search and rescue operations, doctors, dog handlers and firefighters.
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Germany will donate two air defence systems to Slovakia which will use them to protect its eastern border with Ukraine, the Slovak defence ministry said on Thursday, according to Reuters.
In a statement referring to the automated, stationary MANTIS systems, the ministry said:
(MANTIS) will strengthen protection of the eastern border with Ukraine, secured by forces and means of the Slovak armed forces.
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Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukraine has intercepted plans by Russian secret services to destroy Moldova.
Speaking to European Union leaders in Brussels, Zelenskiy said he recently told the Moldovan president, Maia Sandu, about the alleged scheme, Reuters reports.
Speaking through a translator, the president said:
I have informed her that we have intercepted the plan of the destruction of Moldova by the Russian intelligence.
Zelenskiy, who said the plan was very similar to the one devised by Russia to take over Ukraine, said the documents showed “who, when and how” the plan would “break the democracy of Moldova and establish control over Moldova”.
He added that he did not know whether Moscow ultimately ordered the plan to be carried out.
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Russia begins major offensive in eastern Ukraine, Luhansk governor claims
Russia has launched a major offensive in eastern Ukraine and is trying to break through defences near the town of Kreminna, the governor for the Luhansk region said on Thursday.
Serhiy Haidai told Ukrainian TV that Russian troops had gone on the attack and were trying to advance westwards across a winter landscape of snow and forests. There had been “maximum escalation” and a big increase in shooting and shelling, he said.
“These attacks are practically a daily occurrence. We see small groups [of Russian soldiers] trying to advance, sometimes with the support of heavy armour – infantry fighting vehicles and tanks – and sometimes not. There is continuous firing.”
Read more here:
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Russian nuclear energy firm Rosatom says it is ready to continue work on creating a safety zone around Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant after officials from the company met the UN nuclear watchdog chief, Reuters reports.
The firm said:
In this regard, (Rosatom CEO) Alexey Likhachev expressed the readiness of the Russian side to continue work on the implementation of the IAEA director general’s initiative.
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Fury in Ukraine as Elon Musk’s SpaceX limits Starlink use for drones
A senior Ukrainian presidential aide has reacted with anger after Elon Musk’s SpaceX said it had taken steps to prevent its Starlink satellite communications service from controlling drones, which are critical to Kyiv’s forces in fighting off the Russian invasion.
Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX’s chief operating officer, said at a conference in the US that the surprise decision had been taken because it had never been the company’s intention to allow Starlink to be used “for offensive purposes”.
That prompted an immediate complaint on Thursday morning from Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Ukraine’s president, Volodymr Zelenskiy, who argued that Musk’s business had failed to recognise Ukraine’s right to self-defence.
Read more here:
Here are the latest images emerging from Ukraine:
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Zelenskiy says some European leaders ready to give necessary weapons and support
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said on Thursday he had heard from several European Union leaders at a summit that they were ready to provide Kyiv with aircraft, hinting at what would be one of the biggest shifts yet in western support for Ukraine.
Zelenskiy gave no further details about the pledges, and there was no immediate confirmation from any European countries, Reuters reports.
Speaking at a news conference, he said:
Europe will be with us until our victory. I’ve heard it from a number of European leaders... about the readiness to give us the necessary weapons and support, including the aircraft… I have a number of bilaterals now, we are going to raise the issue of the fighter jets and other aircraft.
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Russia looks poised to step up its offensive against Ukraine in the year-long war, the Italian defence minister, Guido Crosetto, said on Thursday, Reuters reports.
Speaking at a news conference in Rome, Crosetto said:
We are working with Ukraine to help it to defend itself from this attack which it seems is about to intensify today and in the coming days.
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UK sanctions seven Russian cyber-criminals over ransomware actions
Seven Russian nationals have been sanctioned by the UK and US over their links to the development and deployment of ransomware, as part of a government crackdown on cyber criminals, PA Media report. PA says:
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said asset freezes and travel bans had been imposed on the seven individuals for their ties to strains of ransomware which had been used to attack UK infrastructure, and others internationally.
Ransomware is a form of cyber-attack that locks files and data on a user’s computer and demands payment in order for them to be released back to the owner and has been used as part of a number of high-profile cyber attacks in recent years, including the 2017 attack on the NHS.
The FCDO said recent victims of this type of cybercrime included UK schools and local authorities, while the National Crime Agency (NCA) had identified 149 British victims who had been affected by strains of ransomware linked to the sanctioned individuals and was responsible for extricating at least an estimated £27m.
James Cleverly, the foreign secretary, said:
By sanctioning these cyber-criminals, we are sending a clear signal to them and others involved in ransomware that they will be held to account.
These cynical cyber-attacks cause real damage to people’s lives and livelihoods.
We will always put our national security first by protecting the UK and our allies from serious organised crime – whatever its form and wherever it originates.
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The UK defence secretary, Ben Wallace, has appeared to suggest that Ukrainian air force pilots would only complete their training in the UK “probably post-conflict”.
Wallace, speaking at a joint UK-Italy ministerial press conference in Rome, said: “Britain’s position on some capability [on fighter planes] is nothing to do with trying to cause problems or challenges.
“It is fundamentally that some of our equipment is solely sovereign. Challenger tanks — I don’t have to ask permission of another country to send them, I can just make a decision in collaboration with my foreign secretary and prime minister.
“They are British sovereignty, so it’s just quicker rather than … if you were to talk about Typhoon fighter jets, there are four nations in that. But also Britain hasn’t said it is necessarily going to send fighter jets to Ukraine.
“What it has said is we’re going to start training to improve the resilience of Ukraine, probably post-conflict, which is no different from what we were doing in 2015 where Britain, Sweden, Canada, America were training the Ukrainians to form their defence.
“That’s not new. All of us on this platform know that over the last year, we shouldn’t rule anything in and we shouldn’t rule anything out.”
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Ukraine is making “impressive” progress on the path to European integration, a process for which there is “no rigid timeline”, the European Commission p,resident Ursula von der Leyen, said on Thursday, Reuters reports.
She said:
The Commission is working very closely with the Ukrainian government (...) There is no rigid timeline, it is a merit-based process.
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Moscow would increase production of tanks in response to western arms supplies to Ukraine, former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said during a visit to a tank factory on Thursday according to Reuters.
“As we know, our adversary [Ukraine] has been begging abroad for planes, missiles, tanks. How should we respond? It is clear that in this case, it is natural for us to increase production of various armaments including modern tanks,” he said.
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‘Wrong side of history’: Ukraine athletes accuse IOC of ‘kowtowing’ to Russia
Ukraine’s athletes have accused the International Olympic Committee of rewarding Vladimir Putin’s aggression and being “on the wrong side of history” in an escalating war of words over whether Russians should compete at the Paris 2024 Games. The IOC recently moved away from having an outright ban on athletes from Russia and Belarus and is investigating ways they can qualify for the Olympics under a neutral flag.
In a letter to Ukraine’s National Olympic Committee, sent last week, the IOC president, Thomas Bach, criticised Ukraine’s threat to boycott the Games, saying it would violate the Olympic charter. That stance has angered Ukraine’s athletes, who have hit back by suggesting the IOC is “kowtowing” to Russia.
Read more here:
New European sanctions against Russia will include new export bans worth more than €10bn ($10.7bn) and will take Vladimir Putin’s propagandists, the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, told reporters on Thursday.
During a joint press conference with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, she said, according to Reuters:
We will target Putin’s propagandists because their lies are poisoning the public space in Russia and abroad.
The new sanctions “will further starve Russia’s military machine and shake the foundations of its economy”, she added.
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The European Union must continue to provide maximum support to Ukraine, the European Council president, Charles Michel, told reporters on Thursday.
During a joint press conference with Zelenskiy and European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, Michel said:
We understand that the coming weeks and months will be of decisive importance. We must remain open-eyed, we must continue to provide maximum level support…Artillery, munitions, defence systems (...) you have told us exactly what you need and what you need now,” Michel added, looking at the Ukrainian president next to him.
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Zelenskiy wants jets. The west should think very carefully before giving them to him
Heroic rhetoric has its moment in every conflict. “We have freedom, give us wings to protect it,” cried Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in pleading support from the nations of Europe in Westminster Hall on Wednesday. He faces a renewed battle to drive Russian tanks off his land – all his land – in the spring. His cause is just and it is desperate. He now wants jets.
At such a time, war has all the best tunes. It ridicules argument, honours danger and jeers at caution. Over the past year, the western powers under Nato auspices have struggled to contain the battles in Ukraine from escalating into precisely what cold war theorists most feared. That is a destabilisation of the balance of power in Europe, leading to a widespread and catastrophic conflict.
They have so far succeeded. Russia’s outrageous bid to occupy and conquer all of Ukraine has been resisted. The line of contact with Russian forces has withdrawn into the Donbas region in the east, roughly the territory occupied by Russia with local support in 2014. Escalation has been avoided largely because western weapons have not deliberately been deployed on Russian soil. Nato has enabled Ukraine to put up a valiant resistance. The reason has not been to preserve western security but rather out of respect for its cruelly assaulted sovereignty. It is not a respect the west has always shown, as in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya.
Read more here:
Here are the latest photos of Zelenskiy addressing European parliament in Brussels:
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Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Thursday thanked EU leaders for their support in countering Russia’s invasion but urged them to supply even more weaponry, including fighter jets.
Zelenskiy said:
I am grateful to all of you who are helping, grateful to everyone who understands how much Ukraine right now needs these possibilities. We need artillery guns, shells for them, modern tanks, long-range missiles, modern aircraft.
He added:
“We need to strengthen the dynamics of our cooperation more powerfully than the aggressor can mobilise its potential.”
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Russia stripped of hosting 2025 swimming world championships
Russia was stripped of hosting the 2025 swimming world championships on Thursday and Singapore was awarded the event by the governing body of the sport, AP news reports.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has asked the governing bodies of sports not to stage events in Russia following the country’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia had originally been chosen in 2019 to host the event in Kazan, which also held the championships in 2015.
In a statement which did not mention Russia, the World Aquatics president, Husain Al-Musallam, said:
Singapore has everything we hope to share with our athletes: world-class facilities, proven experience of hosting events of the highest quality and a comprehensive approach to aquatic sports that runs from elite level to the community.
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The Pink Floyd founder Roger Waters called for an immediate ceasefire in an address to the UN security council on Wednesday.
Speaking upon the invitation of the Russian ambassador to the council, Waters called on world leaders to “change course”, saying:
From the 4 billion or so brothers and sisters in this voiceless majority who together with the millions in the international anti-war movement represent a huge constituency, enough is enough.
The US deputy ambassador to the UN, Richard Mills, responded by questioning Water’s credentials to address the council on the conflict and then deferred to the Ukrainian representative, Sergiy Kyslytsya, who accused the musician of unwittingly becoming a tool for Russian propaganda.
Kyslytsya said:
How sad for his former fans to see him accepting the role of just a brick in the wall – the wall of Russian disinformation and propaganda.
UK will not send fighter jets to Ukraine if there is risk to British safety, government says
The UK has an eye on “potential escalatory risks” as it considers sending warplanes to Ukraine, Downing Street has told PA news.
When asked about some western allies’ concerns that supplying jets could risk dragging Nato into the conflict, the prime minister’s spokesperson said:
Firstly we haven’t made a decision in terms of UK provision of jets, we are training currently. The UK is in the process of providing Challenger tanks and we have provided longer-range capabilities as well. We take these decisions carefully and we do it thoughtfully. We are aware of potential escalatory risks.
The spokesperson added:
But throughout we have been confident the approach we are taking is the best and quickest way to help Ukraine end this war, which is obviously in everyone’s interests. And it is Russia that continues to take escalatory action with their bombardment of civilians and continue their illegal war in Ukraine.
No 10 told PA news the government would not send fighter jets to Ukraine if it put the UK’s safety at risk.
“The UK has significant numbers of Typhoons and F-35s,” Rishi Sunak’s spokesman said. “Of course we would never do anything that would put UK safety at risk.”
He added that the UK would be working with international partners to “work out how we could supply (Ukraine) with Nato-standard capabilities”.
Sending Typhoons would require permission from Italy, Spain and Germany, while F-35s would need US agreement, the official said.
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Russia’s defence ministry said on Thursday that its forces were continuing offensive operations in Ukraine’s Donetsk region and had destroyed four artillery depots, Reuters reports.
In its daily briefing, the ministry said it had also destroyed a US-made radiolocation system and an M109 Paladin artillery system.
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The president of the European Council, Charles Michel, has tweeted a photo of himself and Ukrainian president Zelenskiy saying: “Welcome home, welcome to the EU.”
Welcome home, welcome to the EU @ZelenskyyUA. pic.twitter.com/0Jww2dDKdI
— Charles Michel (@CharlesMichel) February 9, 2023
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The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, is speaking at the European Council.
“You cannot have a free Europe without a free Ukraine,” said Zelenskiy, later adding that further steps need to be taken including sanctions against Russia’s drone, missile and IT sectors.
“In Europe you have to make this decisive step,” he added.
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Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, has described Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s invitation to Paris, where he met the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, as “inappropriate”.
The Italian press speculated that Meloni’s exclusion from the meeting and dinner held on Wednesday night at the Elysée Palace was a sign of Italy’s isolation in Europe and internal government divisions over its support of war-torn Ukraine.
“I believe our strength is community and unity,” Meloni said in Brussels, where she will meet Zelenskiy on the sidelines of a European Council meeting on Thursday. “But there are times when favouring internal public opinion risks being to the detriment of the cause, and this seems to me to be one of those cases.”
While Meloni repeatedly voices full political and military support to Ukraine, her coalition partners have been more ambivalent. Italy’s deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini, who in the past was among the most vocal admirers of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and other Italian politicians recently criticised a plan for Zelenskiy to appear via video link on the closing night of the popular Sanremo song festival, saying his input was “out of place” for an entertainment event. Zelenskiy will now instead provide a speech that will be read out by the show’s host.
Relations between Italy and France have been frosty since Meloni came to power in October, particularly over issues such as immigration.
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Ukraine fighter pilot: I could learn to fly western jet within three months
A Ukrainian fighter pilot who shot down five Iranian drones in one day has said he could learn how to fly a western jet within a few months – and help his country act as “a safe shield for the world” against Russian aggression.
Maj Vadym Voroshylov, a well known figure in his homeland, said he believed it would take “up to three months to learn all the combat tasks” given his years of experience of flying in a Soviet-era MiG-29.
Engineers could learn how to repair a jet like an F-16 in a similar time, the Ukrainian pilot added, because “ground crews can be trained simultaneously”, in an interview as part of Ukraine’s latest lobbying campaign for military aid.
Read more here:
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Here are some images from the European parliament:
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The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, thanked the European Union and its citizens on Thursday for the help Ukraine has been receiving to defend itself against the Russian invasion, before joining a summit of the bloc’s leaders to ask for more weapons, Reuters reports.
Having won promises of western battle tanks in recent weeks, Ukrainian officials are now focused on trying to secure the supply of longer-range rockets and fighter jets.
But Zelenskiy did not mention Ukraine’s demand for jets in his speech in the European parliament, which seemed less aimed at pressing politicians than ensuring support from ordinary EU citizens.
In his speech to EU lawmakers, Zelenskiy said:
I would like to thank you, all of you, who have been helping our people, our ordinary citizens, our resettled people here who called on their leaders to increase and enhance their support.
“We are defending ourselves in the battlefield, we Ukrainians, together with you,” he said, adding that his country was fighting the “biggest anti-European force of the modern world”.
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Midday summary
It is 1pm in Kyiv. Here is a summary of the latest developments in the war in Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy addressed the European parliament on Thursday morning, proclaiming Ukraine “will join the European Union” and thanking the bloc’s members for their support during Russia’s invasion.
French president, Emmanuel Macron, said Paris would “continue the efforts” to deliver arms to Kyiv, adding that France was determined to help Ukraine towards “victory, peace and Europe”. “Russia cannot and must not win,” he said, adding that “the future of Europe” was at stake in Ukraine. The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said it was clear that Moscow would not win, and assured Ukraine its future was in the EU, saying Ukraine was part of the “European family”. “Putin will not achieve his goals – not on the battlefield and not through a dictated peace.”
Zelenskiy also made an emotional appeal to the UK to supply Ukraine with fighter jets on a surprise visit to the UK on Wednesday. “I appeal to you and the world with simple and yet most important words: combat aircrafts – for Ukraine! Wings – for freedom!” he said. Rishi Sunak, previously opposed to handing over UK jets, has ordered a defence ministry review into whether Zelenskiy’s request can be met, saying “nothing was off the table”.
Pledges of support by Sunak, the UK prime minister, included training Ukrainian pilots on advanced Nato fighter jets “to ensure Ukraine can defend its skies well into the future”. Sunak added: “The first step in being able to provide advanced aircraft is to have soldiers or aviators that are capable of using them. That is a process. It takes some time, we’ve started that process today.”
The Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said there was no sign of Russia preparing for peace. “On the contrary, Moscow is preparing for new military offensives,” he said during a joint press conference with the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken.
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Here are some images from the European parliament of Zelenskiy’s address.
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Zelenskiy is presented with the flag of the European Union after he concludes his speech.
The audience of MEPs cheers and applauds as he holds it up alongside Metsola.
Ukraine applied for membership of the bloc shortly after Russia’s invasion and in June was formally granted candidate status.
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Ukraine and EU countries have made their strength obvious, by combining a principled and energetic approach, Zelenskiy says.
Europe will always be Europe as long as we are together and take care of the European way of life, he says.
I invite all of you to Ukraine, and glory to the Ukraine, he says as he concludes his speech.
Zelenskiy says a vision of joining the EU motivates them to stay strong and stay the course.
Europe is defending itself from infiltration of Russian secret services, relieving itself of dependence on Russian gas, he says.
Ukraine will be a member of a European Union that is winning, he says.
Only a victory for Ukraine can protect European values, Zelenskiy tells MEPs
Only our victory will guarantee our European values, Zelenskiy says.
He thanks the support give to Ukrainians by the people of towns and cities across Europe in this “historic battle”.
This prompts a standing ovation from the MEPs.
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Zelenskiy is hitting out at the Russian state.
The value of lives in Russia has been destroyed, only those in the Kremlin have value, he says.
Russia views its people as vessels for carrying weapons, he says.
The Russian regime hates any social justice and diversity, they invest in xenophobia, they are trying to make the inhumane realities of the 1930s and 1940s a reality today, Zelenskiy adds.
Thank you for your principled and energetic approach, two qualities we have seen unchanged during this struggle for Europe, Zelenskiy says.
He celebrates European standards of life, the rule of law, open societies and the values of European people.
This is our Europe, these are our rules, this is our way of life. And for Ukraine it’s a way home.
Zelenskiy is now addressing the European parliament.
The Ukrainian president appears to fight back tears as his cry of “Slava Ukraini!” is met with rapturous cheers.
Metsola says EU response must be proportionate to the threat – and the threat is existential.
She says Zelenskiy does not need to convince anyone present that support is needed.
She backs the Ukrainian president’s “10 point plan”, which includes bringing those responsible for attacks to justice.
We will be with you for as long as it takes.
Metsola praises Ukraine’s response to the earthquake in Turkey, sending rescuers.
Ukraine is fighting for values that bind us, values that make us European, she says.
Your future is in the European Union.
Zelenskiy arrives at the European parliament
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has arrived in the European parliament to rapturous applause and cheers.
The European parliament president, Roberta Metsola, is introducing the Ukrainian leader.
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'High likelihood' of major Russian offensive in coming months, Estonian intelligence says
The head of Estonia’s foreign intelligence service has warned there is a “high likelihood” of a major Russian offensive in Ukraine in the coming weeks and months.
The agency’s new director general, Kaupo Rosin, said he could not tie a Russian attack to a “concrete date”. But he said Vladimir Putin’s “strategic goal” to “subjugate Ukraine” and to divide the west was unchanged, ahead of the anniversary on 24 February of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Speaking to reporters Rosin said he expected Moscow to continue its war throughout 2023. It believed time was on its side and that Ukraine’s western partners were less prepared for a long and drawn-out conflict.
The director general said Russia had been carrying out a mass mobilisation campaign ahead of a new offensive. Some of this was “under the radar”, he said. But he added that the “next wave” of newly drafted personnel were not yet ready to be sent to the battlefield.
“The political will [for a military push] is much stronger than the military realities on the ground,” he said. Rosin added that Russia still had ample stocks of ammunition and precision weapons, as well as 8,000-10,000 T-62 and T-72 tanks in storage, plus artillery pieces. About 3,000-4,000 of the older tanks were usable, the service thinks.
Rosin said there was little prospect of a palace coup inside Russia, a country that was “more and more a total dictatorship”. “Putin still has a full grip on power,” he said.
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Claims that Wagner mercenary group has stopped recruiting criminals contested
The founder of Wagner has claimed that the private military company has stopped recruiting convicted criminals from prisons to fight in Ukraine.
But the statement by Evgeny Prigozhin, the businessman closely tied to Wagner and other Russian influence campaigns, has not convinced close watchers that the mercenary group has actually stopped sending ex-convicts to the front lines in exchange for a pardon.
“Recruitment has been ongoing,” one prisoners’ rights activist told the Guardian. “The question is by whom? Something is wrong here.” The person asked not to be named for fear of retribution.
Earlier on Thursday, the Prigozhin-linked Concord company put out a statement attributed to the catering tycoon in which he claimed to have halted recruitment in prisons.
“Yes, it’s indeed so,” Prigozhin is reported to have said. “The recruitment of prisoners into PMC Wagner has been completely halted. All obligations before those who are working for us will be fulfilled.”
The format for the statement was not unusual for Prigozhin, who regularly trolls and ridicules the press in press releases issued by Concord in response to media requests.
But the statement was completely unheralded, with no previous indications or reporting that Wagner had made a decision to halt its recruitment in prisons. Wagner is believed to have sent tens of thousands of Russian prisoners to the front lines since the beginning of the war. Some of the men, including convicted murderers, have begun returning home from the front.
The independent Russian website Mediazona reported this week that Wagner has begun having difficulties recruiting in prisons because reports of high casualty rates had reached prisoners back in Russia.
In one case, Prigozhin had managed to recruit 300 men from a Urals prison during the summer. But when Wagner returned for a second recruitment drive in December, Mediazona reported, the recruitment officer was faced with difficult questions from the prisoners. And he left with just 20 men.
“He wasn’t a psychologist; he didn’t know how to work a room,” read a Meduza translation of the exchange. “And when he began to say that our guys were starting to get released and needed to be replaced, a discussion broke out between him and the prisoners. One specific prisoner struck the final blow with a question: ‘What percentage of our guys who went [to Ukraine] are still alive?’ At that point, [the recruiter] started to stammer; he couldn’t give an answer, and he ended his speech there.”
It is not clear why Prigozhin may have stopped traveling to prisons, although the strategy of recruiting violent prisoners in exchange for a pardon has been widely criticised. But those who have followed Prigozhin’s prison drive aren’t convinced that his experiment to use convicted criminals as soldiers is over just yet.
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The Netherlands is not ruling out any kind of military support for Ukraine, the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, told reporters on Thursday ahead of an EU summit in Brussels, which the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, will be attending as well.
“We have consistently said that we rule nothing out as long as there is not an article five situation between Nato and Russia,” he said.
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Significant increase in Russian attacks in eastern Ukraine, local governor says
Russian forces have significantly stepped up attacks in eastern Ukraine and are trying to break through Ukrainian defences near the town of Kreminna, a regional governor has said.
Serhiy Haidai, the governor of the Luhansk region, said Ukraine’s military were holding their ground near Kreminna, which Russian forces have held for months, but said they needed more weapons and ammunition to hold out, Reuters reports.
“I can confirm that there has been a significant increase in attacks and shelling. And it is in the direction of Kreminna that they are trying to build on their success by pushing through out defenders’ defences,” he told Ukrainian television.
“So far they have had no significant success, our defence forces are holding firmly there.”
Kreminna, which lies about 100km (62 miles) north-west of the regional capital Luhansk, had a population of about 18,000 before Russia’s invasion on 24 February last year.
Breaking through Ukrainian lines near Kreminna would take Russian forces a step closer to the much larger city of Kramatorsk.
“(We need) heavy equipment and artillery ammunition - then we will not only be able to maintain the defence, but also make a good counter-offensive operation,” Haidai said.
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More world leaders are arriving in Brussels for today’s EU summit, including Estonia’s prime minister, Kaja Kallas, who was seen addressing reporters.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, is set to attend the summit as the guest of honour where he will push allies to deliver fighter jets “as soon as possible” in the war against Russia.
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A leading military aviation analyst, Justin Bronk at the Rusi thinktank, says the UK could probably spare only a handful of its oldest, Tranche 1, Typhoons amounting to around 20 to 25. Ukraine has said it needs around 200 western fighters to create a war winning air force.
The fighters were, he tweeted, “not optimised for low altitude” – flying of the type needed to evade Russian air defences, and were not well designed to operate from the simple, dispersed airfields used by Ukraine to evade detection.
As a result, the value of any gift of Typhoons would be “almost purely symbolic” but might be worth it if it helped persuade Sweden to supply Gripens as part of an international consortium.
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The latest British intelligence assessment suggests that freezing weather conditions, including frozen ground, has meant there has likely been little change in cross country mobility (CCM) conditions in eastern Ukraine in recent weeks.
These conditions are “likely to be at its worst, with extremely muddy conditions, over mid- to late-March” the UK Ministry of Defence added.
“Commanders on both sides will highly likely seek to avoid scheduling major offensives at such times.
“However, perceived political or operational opportunities can override such concerns, as demonstrated by Russia launching its invasion in late-February 2022.”
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 9 February 2023
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) February 9, 2023
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/vrOFArukPg
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/6Sc2wfJpqC
We have a little more detail on Zelenskiy’s expected visit to Brussels later today from Jennifer Rankin, the Guardian’s Brussels correspondent.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy is expected to call on European leaders to speed up the delivery of weapons to help his country fight Russia and not put unnecessary obstacles in Ukraine’s path to EU membership, when he attends a special summit in Brussels on Thursday.
Zelenskiy is due to meet all 27 EU leaders and expected to address the European parliament in a special session where he will focus on Ukraine’s need for military equipment and campaign for speedy accession to the European Union.
My president travels to get results,” a senior Ukrainian official said on the eve of the trip. Ukraine’s European allies “need to speed up this month and next [in military deliveries] because the next two months will be critical.”
Zelenskiy is seeking long-range artillery, the delivery of promised European tanks, fighter jets and “ammunition, ammunition, ammunition” the official said, as its army is running out of Soviet-type shells and wants western equivalents to continue the war effort. “If we had all this already we could be starting a counter-offensive,” the official added.
EU insiders have described the visit as historic.
Zelenskiy has already addressed six EU summits via video link, but this will be his first trip to Brussels since Russia’s invasion nearly one year ago. He is expected to address the 27 leaders and hold numerous bilateral meetings.
These encounters will allow him to press the case for Ukraine’s speedy accession to the European Union to more sceptical leaders. Ukraine, along with Moldova and Georgia, was last June granted candidate status, having filed its application to join the EU only a few days after the Russian invasion. Western EU member states, such as France, Germany and the Netherlands, think the process of joining could take years, even decades, and fear raising false hopes among Ukraine’s population.
Zelenskiy is expected to reiterate his call for Ukraine to be allowed to start membership negotiations in 2023, a procedural step that usually takes years following the approval of candidate status. “We would not like to be the hostages of any bureaucratic procedure,” said the Ukrainian official.
Ukraine’s other priority is gaining EU support for Zelenskiy’s 10-point peace plan, which calls for the withdrawal of all Russian troops, restoration of Ukraine’s borders and a special tribunal for the prosecution of Russian war crimes.
On Thursday European leaders are also set to express support for a “peace formula summit aiming at launching [the peace’s plan’s] implementation”, according to draft summit conclusions. The document also notes: “Russia has not shown any genuine willingness regarding a fair and sustainable peace”.
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The Russian embassy to Britain has warned the UK against sending fighter jets to Ukraine, after Downing Street confirmed Rishi Sunak had asked his defence secretary to investigate.
Such a move would have “military and political consequences for the European continent and the entire world”, the embassy said in a statement late on Wednesday.
We would like to remind London: in the event of such a scenario the death toll of yet another round of escalation, as well as its military-political consequences for the European continent and the whole world will be on the United Kingdom’s hands.
Russia will know how to respond to any unfriendly actions by the British side.”
#Zelensky’s hasty visit to London and his theatrical performance in Westminster were obviously aimed at preparing the Western public for upcoming decisions towards further satisfaction of the #Kiev regime’s constant and ever increasing demands.
— Russian Embassy, UK (@RussianEmbassy) February 8, 2023
🔗https://t.co/1D7zffnxLw pic.twitter.com/D5WnB4BzRC
Russia’s Wagner mercenary group has stopped recruiting prisoners to fight in Ukraine, Wagner’s founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has reportedly said.
In a response to a request for comment published on social media, Reuters cites Prigozhin as saying on Thursday:
The recruitment of prisoners by the Wagner private military company has completely stopped. We are fulfilling all our obligations to those who work for us now”.
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Russian offensive has begun in Luhansk: ISW
Russian forces have regained the initiative in Ukraine and have begun their next major offensive in the eastern Luhansk region, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has said in its latest report.
The commitment of significant elements of at least three major Russian divisions to offensive operations in this sector indicates the Russian offensive has begun, even if Ukrainian forces are so far preventing Russian forces from securing significant gains.”
The pace of Russian operations along the Svatove-Kreminna line in western Luhansk has “increased markedly over the past week”, the ISW added.
Citing Russian sources, the thinktank said reports claim that Russian troops are attacking Ukrainian defensive lines and making marginal advances along the Kharkiv-Luhansk border, particularly northwest of Svatove near Kupyansk and west of Kreminna
NEW: Russian forces have regained the initiative in #Ukraine and have begun their next major offensive in #Luhansk Oblast. 🧵(1/8)https://t.co/RJk789ogNT pic.twitter.com/imKBU7d5Rq
— ISW (@TheStudyofWar) February 9, 2023
Earlier this week, Ukraine claimed that Russian forces were attempting to tie down Ukrainian forces with fighting in the eastern Donbas region as Moscow assembled additional troops there for an expected offensive in the coming weeks, perhaps targeting the Luhansk region.
Weeks of intense fighting have raged around the city of Bakhmut and the nearby towns of Soledar and Vuhledar.
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Nato chief says Moscow preparing new offensive
The Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, has said there is no sign of Russia preparing for peace.
During a joint press conference on Wednesday with the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, Stoltenberg said:
Regrettably, we see no sign that Russia is preparing for peace.
On the contrary, Moscow is preparing for new military offensives.
So we must continue to provide Ukraine with the weapons it needs to retake territory, and prevail as a sovereign, independent nation.”
Excellent discussions with @SecBlinken @SecDef Austin & NatSec advisor @jakejsullivan on our continued support to #Ukraine & global security challenges. Thanked them for #US leadership. #NATO stands united at this critical moment. pic.twitter.com/wgjJzwiYw2
— Jens Stoltenberg (@jensstoltenberg) February 9, 2023
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Just a quick snap here that Zelenskiy will reportedly travel to attend a European Union summit later on Thursday with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, his office has said in a statement this morning.
Macron earlier said Paris would “continue the efforts” to deliver arms to Kyiv, adding that France was determined to help Ukraine towards “victory, peace and Europe”.
“Russia cannot and must not win,” he said, adding that “the future of Europe” was at stake in Ukraine.
Vers la victoire, vers la paix, vers l'Europe. До перемоги, до миру, до Європи. pic.twitter.com/j8fwVUlsYd
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) February 9, 2023
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Zelenskiy to lobby EU leaders at Brussels summit
Volodymyr Zelenskiy is expected to travel to Brussels today to attend an EU summit as the guest of honour, where he will press allies to deliver more weapons and fighter jets “as soon as possible” as well as urging for a speedy start to EU membership talks.
The Ukrainian president started the surprise tour of Europe on Wednesday with visits to Britain and France, marking just his second venture abroad since the Russian invasion almost one year ago.
His attendance at the EU summit in Brussels will be “a signal of European solidarity,” said the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz.
Yesterday, Zelenskiy travelled to France to meet with Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron. Earlier in the day he addressed parliament and met with King Charles III in London.
A senior Ukrainian official said the president would ask for more arms – especially fighter jets and longer-range missiles – and for the EU to move quickly on Ukraine’s bid to join. Alongside the leaders of France and Germany, Zelenskiy said:
“The sooner Ukraine gets long-range heavy weaponry, the sooner our pilots get planes, the sooner this Russian aggression will end and we can return to peace in Europe,” he said in Paris alongside the leaders of France and Germany.
Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, will also meet Zelenskiy on the sidelines of a European Council meeting, a government source told Reuters.
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Summary and welcome
Hello and welcome back to the Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine. I’m Samantha Lock and I’ll be bringing you all the latest developments as they unfold over the next hour.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy is expected to travel to Brussels today to lobby EU leaders for more weapons and a speedy start to joining the bloc.
“The sooner Ukraine gets long-range heavy weaponry, the sooner our pilots get planes, the sooner this Russian aggression will end and we can return to peace in Europe,” he said in Paris on Wednesday ahead of the Brussels summit.
Meanwhile, in separate discussions between Nato’s secretary general and the US secretary of state, the possibility of a renewed Russian offensive looms.
Jens Stoltenberg told reporters he saw “no sign that Russia is preparing for peace” and believes Moscow is instead “preparing for new military offensives”.
If you have just joined us, here are all the latest developments:
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has used a visit to Paris on Wednesday to urge Europe to deliver combat aircraft and heavy arms to Ukraine as soon as possible. “The sooner Ukraine gets long-range heavy weaponry, the sooner our pilots get planes, the sooner this Russian aggression will end and we can return to peace in Europe,” the Ukrainian president said as he arrived at the Élysée Palace on Wednesday. Zelenskiy met with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, urging them to be “game changers” by sending modern planes and then “the quicker this Russian aggression will end”.
Macron said Paris would “continue the efforts” to deliver arms to Kyiv, adding that France was determined to help Ukraine towards “victory, peace and Europe”. “Russia cannot and must not win,” he said, adding that “the future of Europe” was at stake in Ukraine. Scholz said it was clear that Moscow would not win, and assured Ukraine its future was in the EU, saying Ukraine was part of the “European family”. “Putin will not achieve his goals – not on the battlefield and not through a dictated peace.”
Zelenskiy also made an emotional appeal to the UK to supply Ukraine with fighter jets on a surprise visit to the UK earlier on Wednesday. “I appeal to you and the world with simple and yet most important words: combat aircrafts – for Ukraine! Wings – for freedom!” he said. Rishi Sunak, previously opposed to handing over UK jets, has ordered a defence ministry review into whether Zelenskiy’s request can be met, saying “nothing was off the table”.
Pledges of support by Sunak, the UK prime minister, included training Ukrainian pilots on advanced Nato fighter jets “to ensure Ukraine can defend its skies well into the future”. Sunak added: “The first step in being able to provide advanced aircraft is to have soldiers or aviators that are capable of using them. That is a process. It takes some time, we’ve started that process today.”
The Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said there was no sign of Russia preparing for peace. “On the contrary, Moscow is preparing for new military offensives,” he said during a joint press conference with the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken.
Zelenskiy is expected to travel to Brussels on Thursday, with leaders of EU countries due there for a summit. A senior Ukrainian official said the president would ask for more arms to fight Russia and for the EU to move quickly on Ukraine’s bid to join. Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, would meet with Zelenskiy on the sidelines of a European Council meeting, a government source told Reuters.
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